EU relaxes access limitations to high-quality blockchain, AI data

The European Union has relaxed the wealth of information that can be reused as raw material for blockchain- and artificial intelligence-related projects.

According to its press release, the new rules aim to boost the EU’s data economy, contribute to the progress of a data-based society, and stimulate growth to open more jobs in the economic sector.

High-value datasets, including geospatial, earth observation and environment, meteorological, statistics, companies and company ownership, and mobility, will be made available for free via an application programming interface (API).

“These rules are a real enabler for artificial intelligence and will help Europe to become a world leader in this crucial area,” said Alexandru Petrescu, Romania's Minister for Communications and the Information Society, President of the Council.

“They will bolster the EU digital industry, especially smaller companies and start-ups, which would not otherwise have access to all the data they need to innovate and expand.”

The new directive will also allow the use of research data that are already in the public domain. Dynamic data including real-time weather or transport data will also be made available, and open-format data can be used for free or shared for any purpose.

Last month, the Maltese government has awarded the first Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology scholarship grants to 19 students, with the hopes of preparing the future generation “for the necessities of future industries.”